State of Delaware v. State of New York, et al. (507 U.S. 490)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 30, 1993 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 507 U.S. 490 · 113 S. Ct. 1550
- Decided
- March 30, 1993
- Term
- October Term 1992
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- Interstate Relations
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Unspecifiable
Opinion excerpt
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. In this original action, we resolve another dispute among States that assert competing claims to abandoned intangible personal property. Most of the funds at issue are unclaimed securities distributions held by intermediary banks, brokers, and depositories for beneficial owners who cannot be identified or located. The Special Master proposed awarding the right to escheat such funds to the State in which the principal executive offices of the securities issuer are located. Adhering to the rules announced in Texas v. New Jersey, 379 U. S. 674 (1965), and Pennsylvania v. New York, 407 U. S. 206 (1972), we hold that the State in which the intermediary is incorporated has the right to escheat funds belonging to beneficial owners who cannot be identified or located. I This case involves unclaimed dividends, interest, and other distributions made by issuers of securities. Such payments are often channeled through financial intermediaries such as banks, brokers, and depositories before they reach their beneficial owners. By arrangement with the beneficial owners, these intermediaries frequently hold securities in their own names rather than in the names of the beneficial owners; as “record owners,” the intermediaries are fully entitled to receive distributions based on those securities. This practice of holding securities in “nominee…
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